Kerstin Hall

I was not expecting Kerstin Hall’s Star Eater to be as dark as it is, but I did nothing more than glance at the cover image. Had I actually looked at it, I might have been better prepared for the more disturbing parts of the story. This is yet another story in which the heroine is as much a pawn as she is the great big hope for society, but I didn’t mind that. I also found the idea of a floating city, one torn from a greater landmass and raised through magic, to be particularly show more intriguing. Plus, there is something about the moral ambiguity of the Sisters that draws you into the heart of the novel. While they do have society’s best interest at heart, it comes at such a cost – and there will be some readers who will not be able to move past that cost. Star Eater is one story that should come with all sorts of trigger warnings given its contents, but I enjoyed it all the same, taboos and all. show less

Karys is a Deathspeaker; she’s made a deal with an absolutely horrifying eldritch creature at the price of her soul, but is given the ability to speak with the recent dead. During a job gone wrong a stranger becomes bound within her shadow, which turns out to be a huge no-no and extremely dangerous. Both are keeping secrets, and to survive they’ll have to come to some sort of trust.

If you like forced proximity, I don’t know if you can get closer proximity than stuck inside someone’s show more head. I’m a fan of slow burn romance, and the setting and world building was GREAT. Lots of weird divinities! Strange creatures and cities and customs! A super creepy eldritch horror that seems a little too into Karys and REALLY doesn’t understand that she doesn’t want to give up life and come live in his creepy hell palace forever and ever!

There’re some beautifully emotional moments, and some horrifying body-horror ones, and a lot about survival. Karys hasn’t had an easy life, she’s incredibly lonely, and for all this time she’s had to rely on herself. Breaking out of that kind of habit is very, very hard, and it’s a struggle for her to try and trust the new connections she’s making when balanced against that self-reliance.

I thought it was absolutely beautiful but it left us with a cliffhanger ending, so I’m happy to hear the author intends to pen a sequel! show less

I received a paperback ARC of Star Eater, authored by Kerstin Hall, published by Tor Dot Com, for review consideration. What follows below is my honest review, freely given. I want to note the cover art is by Sam Weber, cover design by Christine Foltzer, with editing by Ruoxi Chen.

I rated this novel 5 stars. I adore this cover! It also accomplished what covers set out to do; stopped my scrolling so that I would look at this title more closely.

Being a June release and Pride month, I would show more like to mention that something I really enjoyed about this book; seeing a variety of relationship types represented without it seeming forced or a gimmick. The author’s voice brought the world alive with what I felt was the perfect blend of descriptive language and astute dispensing of backstory lore in very organic ways. And all the beautifully flawed people. I could write paragraphs praising the authors that write characters that breathe and bleed as we do, in Star Eater I can even name some of my favorites: Finn, Asan and Osan. In this case, none could be claimed MC’s, but they were just as vibrantly written and burning from the page, and to me these three spoke the loudest.

History is written by the victors. This could easily be called a political read, even if it’s firmly in the fantasy genre. Power and how strongly one cleaves to it is a major theme. Now I am only just getting back into reading more fantasy after mainly straight horror for the last couple of years, so this may be the usual type of thing for it. So, sorry if you are reading this and thinking, “does she not read a lot of fantasy or something?” I do not, but am getting better. A city that floats usually is not an indicator of their overall goodness (looking at you Battle Angel), and I was absolutely floored by how everything ended up! This is a rich and complex novel, there are multiple times when I found myself caught in the moment of a scene. I am an emotional reader, no shame; there is laughter to be found here, as well as tears. Neither of these happened at the very last of the book, which I appreciated. I felt that there was a time for the reader to watch the characters after the BOOK happened, does that make sense? We get to say goodbye before closing the back cover, to let our heart calm. And it was very much a wonderful, terrifying and surreal ride at times, so I liked that I could say goodbye with my heart calm. And know that I can always pick it back up to say hello again, as well. show less

Although I enjoyed [b:Star Eater|55077680|Star Eater|Kerstin Hall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599778721l/55077680._SY75_.jpg|74138070], it suffers from the same problem as [b:The Unspoken Name|45046552|The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates, #1)|A.K. Larkwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576631770l/45046552._SY75_.jpg|69749498]: sufficient similarity to the Locked Tomb series by [a:Tamsyn Muir|6876324|Tamsyn show more Muir|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1543423040p2/6876324.jpg] that I compared them unfavourably. Thus I liked many of the concepts, but did not find their execution as visceral as the unparalleled Locked Tomb experience. Some of the body horror was pretty creepy, although I think the cannibalistic elements could have felt more intense. Similarly, the first person narration was fine but not terribly distinctive. Elfreda the protagonist is nonetheless interesting and I like the way she solves problems by befriending and trusting others.

Comparisons aside, the worldbuilding in [b:Star Eater|55077680|Star Eater|Kerstin Hall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599778721l/55077680._SY75_.jpg|74138070] is original and appealing; I would gladly read a whole series exploring this world. From the first page I was eager to discover more details of the magic system, social stratification, geography, and gender politics. The magic is based on ritualised cannibalism, only usable by women, and deadly toxic to men. I was very curious about how it was discovered and the power structure established, but that is only touched upon. The writing is compelling and, once I was familiar with the world, I found events exciting. While I think the plot resolved itself a little too easily at the end, overall I had a very good time reading [b:Star Eater|55077680|Star Eater|Kerstin Hall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599778721l/55077680._SY75_.jpg|74138070]. There a lot of ingenious ideas and the protagonist is pleasingly down to earth. Also giant cats are the main means of transport, who could resist that? show less